Local state parks areas such as Steamboat Rock, Osborne Bay, and Northrup Canyon are closed, while Spring Canyon remains open but without services.
State authorities, however, including Gov. Jay Inslee, are saying that if you have to drive to it, it’s too far and you should just stay home and take a walk around the block.
See the story at The Star’s site
If you’d like some active fun on New Year’s Day, here are a couple local options:
1. Meet at Spring Canyon at noon for a polar bear plunge into Lake Roosevelt or join a few crazy kayakers braving the cold. They’re both happening at noon.
Spring Canyon, the National Park Service’s closest campground in the Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area to Grand Coulee, isn’t open with full service now, so plan on taking any trash with you when you leave. And be sure to bring a thermos of something hot to drink when you get cold, plus a way to dry off and warm up.
We understand some folks will also make their way to a local bar to help in that effort, if that’s your thing.
2. Take a hike at Dry Falls with the Washington State Park’s “Adventure Awaits” event, “New Year’s Day — Tracks & Impressions — Dry Falls Hike.”
Starting at the Dry Falls Visitor Center on highway 17, you’ll walk the western rim of the Lower Grand Coulee. (If you drive there from the city Grand Coulee, you will have driven the length of the Upper Grand Coulee along Banks Lake.)
The 2.5-mile hike, judged to be of “moderate” difficulty starts at 10:30 a.m. and lists no minumum age on the adventurewaits.com website. But note that the trail is NOT stroller or ADA accessible.
Dogs will be allowed on a leash.
Hikers should be prepared for winter conditions, of course, but also note that you’re hiking the rim, so prepare for wind. You should also bring a day pack with water and snacks, winter boots and hiking poles.
Park Interpretive Specialist David McWalter is organizing it: david.mcwalter@parks.wa.gov. , 509-632-5214.
Here’s another fine use of Instagram: highlighting the great hikes the Grand Coulee Dam area offers. This shot is of a very happy dog on top of Steamboat Rock, out in the midst of Banks Lake at the Steamboat Rock State Park. It’s a hunk of earth that didn’t wash away in the series of catastrophic floods that carved the Grand Coulee at the end the last ice age.
So standing atop the rock, about 800 feet above the floor of the Grand Coulee, you can imagine the torrents that flowed through the area thousands of years ago, leaving this dramatic landscape.
The dog may not get that, but he certainly enjoys it anyway.
A recent visitor to the area was kind enought to post a great blog piece about their climb up Steamboat Rock.
Posting photos from significant stops along the route, you get to see how the climb looks before you decide to try it. (It’s pretty do-able for most folks, but it’s utterly without any services at the top).
I haven’t done this in a while, but it’s a worthwhile endeavor, especially is you’ve visited the Visitor Center at Grand Coulee Dam and understand how the Grand Coulee (the canyon, not the dam) was formed. It’s a jaw-dropper view from the top.
For a quick preview of it, see this couple’s great post.
